Jordan outlaws the Muslim Brotherhood ‘and its ideology’

Jordan has announced a complete ban on the Muslim Brotherhood, saying it would close the group’s offices and punish any discussion of it

Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, on Wednesday and confiscated its assets, Interior Minister Mazen Fraya announced.

The ban comes eight days after the Jordanian government said it had foiled a plot by Muslim Brotherhood members to carry out armed attacks in the country, arresting 16 people.

There was no immediate comment from the movement, which has operated legally in Jordan for decades and has widespread grass-roots support in major urban centres and scores of offices across the country.

Fraya said all the activities of the group would be banned and anyone promoting its ideology would be held accountable by law.

The minister also announced draconian measures against anyone engaging with the Brotherhood in any way.

The ban includes publishing anything by the group and closure and confiscation of all its offices and property, he added.

He said that a “dissolution committee” had been tasked with confiscating the group’s assets.

Among these were the closure of any offices or premises used by the group across Jordan, even if shared with other entities, under threat of legal action.

He also said any media outlet, social media user, or civil society group engaging with or publishing anything related to the Brotherhood or its associated organisations would face legal consequences.

Fraya claimed that the group attempted to smuggle and destroy large quantities of documents from its offices the same night that the alleged armed attack plot was discovered.

He justified the measures by saying that the state had discovered that the Muslim Brotherhood had been storing explosives and weapons in residential areas and transporting them between cities, while manufacturing rockets and training and recruiting fighters.

Fraya said no state could tolerate this. The Brotherhood however, has denied all links to the alleged plot.

The group has however been active in organising protests against Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, which Jordanian authorities have recently attempted to suppress.

Jordan signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1994, but over half its population is of Palestinian origin, and there has been a great deal of anger in the country amid Israel’s genocidal conduct in Gaza.

The Jordanian Parliament witnessed a heated session last Monday, during which many MPs and leaders of parliamentary and political blocs launched strong attacks on the Muslim Brotherhood and its associated Islamic Action Front party.

Since the Arab Spring broke out in 2011, relations between the Brotherhood and the Jordanian government have been tense, with several previous attempts to ban it or associated organisations and charities.